'Avengers 4: Endgame' Spoilers: Time Loop Twist Revealed in Old Interview

Avengers: Infinity War left a lot of fans reeling about what the future could bring for our beloved superheroes, with Thanos snapping many of them into oblivion (though Spider-Man’s safety is guaranteed thanks to the Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer). If and how they’ll come back in Avengers: Endgame has become a major talking point, and so have the Infinity Stones, with one theory suggesting the Mind Stone could’ve influenced Thanos himself. But what if the key to finally defeating Thanos is actually the Time Stone?

Redditor u/mjsbullitt presented further evidence as to why the Time Stone could play a major role in Avengers: Endgame, potentially confirming the Time Loop Theory after they found an old interview with Doctor Strange screenwriter Jon Spaihts. In the interview, it’s revealed that it was Kevin Feige who came up with the initial idea to include the time loop scene in Doctor Strange as part of a “grand design.”

“We were trying to figure out how that final battle could go,” Spaihts said, “and Kevin was focused on his long play with the Eye of Agamotto and the role it’s going to play in his grand design in the cinematic universe — very focused on Strange’s manipulation of time. It was Kevin Feige in the room who said, ‘Could he trap him in time?’”

So the same way Strange fought Dormammu could be the key to Thanos’ defeat as well. This isn’t a new theory, as it’s long been thought that time manipulation would play a key role in Avengers: Endgame, and if the Time Stone can create a time loop then it can also turn back time to before Thanos snapped his fingers to begin with.

Why not send Thanos back to the moment he was so proud of? That way the Avengers could trap the Mad Titan in a time loop and take all the time they need to defeat him. If Doctor Strange is indeed “playing the long game” then he knew exactly what he was doing the entire time. The time loop theory certainly makes his last words to Tony Stark make more sense.

This theory is even more plausible now that we have confirmation Feige was involved. It might sound strange to think that the key to defeating Thanos in Avengers: Endgame was introduced in a totally different movie three years earlier, but that’s the beauty of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Everything connects.

Avengers: Endgame is in theaters April 26, 2019.